The Prioress's Triumph
by Sarah Haywood
Summary: Poems about Robin Hood's death... "I smile. I sit beside him,Watching the bandage leak,Robin Hood is mine.All mine."
1. Prioress

Robin Hood,  
A weakling,  
A pitiful creature,  
And he's mine,  
All mine,  
Fever pulses through him and he calls for Marian,  
Marian,  
Who was to be my sister,  
The woman my brother was to wed.  
No longer,  
My brother fell,  
Fell to a white tipped arrow,  
A white tipped arrow in his heart,  
Shot by Robin Hood.  
The fool.  
To come here,  
To my domain,  
My place for myself,  
And next to us a graveyard,  
Where my brother now lives,  
Robin Hood,  
Consumed by the fire inside of him,  
Comes to the door of my nunnery,  
The fool.  
He must be bled,  
The bad blood must be drained out of him,  
But no one but me knows the good blood must go too.  
The knife, glinting in my hand  
Cuts,  
Bites,  
Into the flesh of my enemy.  
Too deep,  
An accident I will say,  
I did not mean to kill the hero of the poor.  
But I will laugh.  
As the bad blood falls away,  
Into my bowl,  
And we bind his arm with linen,  
I smile.  
I sit beside him,  
Watching the bandage leak.  
Robin Hood is mine.  
All mine. 


	2. Robin

I hurt.  
My arm is pulsing  
My head is burning  
I feel sick to my stomach  
I can see eyes  
I've seen them before  
Evil  
Cruel  
Sir Guy's eyes.  
It can't be true  
I killed him myself  
All those years ago  
But the eyes stay near me  
Laughing at me  
Laughing at my pain  
Laughing at my longing for my bright-eyed wife  
I can see the laugher's face now  
Tis a woman's face  
The prioress  
The murderer from all those years ago  
Sir guy's sister  
She laughs at me  
My arm still pulses  
I hear a steady drip  
Drip  
I'm bleeding  
I'm dying  
I will not survive this night  
I will never see Marian's face again  
Her merry Norman face  
The bearer of my children  
I feel tears  
Hot tears  
Angry tears biting at my eyes  
No  
I cannot cry  
I cannot give my murderer that satisfaction  
Even if my heart is breaking  
I must get John  
My best friend  
My horn  
Where is it?  
I must get to him before I die  
For the prioress will not have pity  
She will not tell Marian that she was the last thing on my mind  
She will lead her to believe I left her  
Never  
I cannot do that to my Marian  
I can feel the horn  
Smooth  
Hard  
I take it to my lips  
The note comes  
Stubborn  
But loud enough for John to hear  
I only pray he gets here in time  
For Marian's sake. 


	3. Little John

A note  
A quiet beautiful note  
It wakens me from my deep sleep  
Shakes my dreams from me  
And makes me get to my feet  
I know that sound well  
It is Robin  
He needs me  
It comes from Kirklees  
The nunnery perhaps?  
I run  
My feet flying from the ground  
Sherwood disappears  
Kirklees comes  
My running feet find the nunnery  
Sinister in the early light  
A sister opens the door  
She brings me to Robin  
We climb stairs  
Thousands of millions of stairs  
The door opens  
And Robin is there  
Pale  
Weak  
Ill  
What happened to him?  
The handsome man I had joked with hours ago  
He sits up  
Grunting with effort  
Clutching his arm  
I go to him  
I want to hug him  
Give him my strength  
My power  
But all I can do is keep him from falling  
Is sitting so much effort now?  
Why?  
This cannot be true.  
Robin can't die  
Too much depends on him  
What about Marian?  
What about Sherwood?  
What about me?  
"Who did this to you?"  
He looks sad  
He points to a woman in the corner of the room  
She laughs  
I shall slay her  
Slay her for what she did to Robin  
For laughing about it  
But I can't  
If I leave Robin  
He will fall 


	4. Forever

Darkness clouds my eyes  
Death is coming  
Too soon for my liking  
Too soon for me to say goodbye  
Too soon to kiss my wife one last time  
John holds me easily  
But his arms are shaking  
Shaking with grief  
Shaking with anger  
Shaking with murderous intent  
He wants to kill the Prioress now  
But he can't  
He shall never harm a woman  
I shall never harm a woman  
I want to harm this one though  
This merciless creature  
Who laughs at me  
But I cannot  
I am too weak  
But John can  
I cannot let him  
I shall not die a hypocrite  
I shall not die with woman's blood on my hands  
I wish I did not have to die at all  
I ask John to take me to the window  
To put an arrow to my bow  
I ask him to help me shoot it  
He does  
Good old John  
My best friend  
A good man  
Oh John  
Bury me where ever my arrow goes to  
I want you to mark it  
I want you to bury Marian next to me  
I want to lie next to her in the afterlife  
When it is her time  
I want to meet her up there  
Tears come now  
I can't stop them  
I don't want to die now  
I want Marian here next to me  
Comforting me  
Helping me  
Grieving over me  
I want to be able to see my grandchildren  
But it was not meant to be  
John wipes my tears away  
Strokes my hair  
He comforts me  
He helps me  
But I can feel his tears on my cheeks along with my own  
Death waits for me  
And I say farewell  
Farewell to you, John  
Farewell to Sherwood  
Farewell to Marian  
Remember me forever 


	5. False Dawn

Robin is dead.  
Gone  
Forever  
And I'm all alone  
I close his eyes  
And wipe his dead tears away  
He can't be just gone  
He had so much life in him  
He was perfect  
Handsome  
Strong  
Charming  
Funny  
And now he's dead  
Disappeared into the sands of time  
I miss him already  
I take Robin in my arms  
Hug him for so long  
That I get his blood on me  
I hate the Prioress  
I would kill her  
I would do to her what she did to Robin  
But my love for Robin is stronger than my hatred.  
And she has disappeared  
I put Robin on his bed  
And sob into his chest  
Until my eyes are red  
And I have not tears left.  
Dawn has come  
I hate this false dawn  
How can the sun rise when Robin is gone forever?  
Why do I have to stay behind?  
I wish it was me  
Me who had fallen ill  
Me who the Prioress murdered  
Me who was dead  
And now  
I have to tell Marian  
What will she think?  
I do not know  
But I have a duty  
A duty my master  
A duty to my friend  
A duty to the man I loved as a brother  
To tell her  
And I have to hope she will not hate me  
For surviving. 


	6. Marian's Grief

Hmmm...  
What is John doing here?  
He was supposed to be hunting with Robin all week  
And Robin is not here  
"John?"  
He comes up to my gate  
He looks a mess  
His face is dirty  
He looks as if he has not slept  
And he has been crying  
Crying?!  
What happened?  
What's wrong?  
Where's Robin?!  
When I ask tears come to his eyes  
He tells me  
He tells me lies  
He tells me Robin is dead  
Tells me that the woman who killed my mother has killed my husband  
NO!  
Robin is not dead  
I love him too much for that  
John sees my disbelief and sobs harder  
He's a liar  
A horrid liar  
He and Robin are playing a silly joke on me  
Just for fun  
I tell him to stop  
The joke is not funny anymore  
It never was funny  
Then I look into John's eyes  
Filled with tears  
Filled with regret  
Filled with sadness  
And I know he is telling the truth  
I break down  
I cannot see anything  
All I can see is my memories of Robin  
I remember  
The day we met  
The day I fell in love with him  
The day we were married  
The days our children were born  
And Robin is DEAD?!  
John  
Takes  
Me  
In  
His  
Arms  
He tries to comfort me  
And I cry  
I don't know how long I cry for  
So long my face is clenched  
So long my stomach hurts  
What is my life worth without Robin?  
"Mama?"  
My littlest child  
Tugs at my skirt  
John lets go of me  
Embarrassed  
I look at my daughter's chubby face  
So concerned  
"It's all right mama... don't cry"  
"Please don't cry"  
I pick her up  
This little girl has a part of my husband in her  
So do all of my children  
My life is worth something  
Them. 


	7. Funeral

My father is going into the ground today.  
He's in a wooden box  
With his bow at his side  
Under the tree he shot his arrow into.  
I don't understand.  
Why would anyone want to kill him?  
Why would they hurt my father?  
The hero,  
The knight,  
The leader,  
The protector of the innocent,  
Mother cries at night  
Sobs into the place where her Robin once laid his head  
She thinks no one can hear her  
I can.  
Little John works fervently  
He builds things,  
Chops things,  
Burns things,  
He says he must work or he'll kill himself.  
Me?  
I don't talk at all.  
I remember,  
How my father used to carry me on his shoulders,  
How he taught me to shoot ,  
How his eyes lit up when anything good happened,  
How he danced with my mother by the fire, laughing merrily,  
How he told me once,  
That if anything bad ever happened to him  
I would be the man of the house,  
And I would have to look after mother and the girls.  
I thought that would never happen,  
I was wrong.  
Father is in a wooden box  
And he's going in a hole under a tree.  
All the Merry Men are here,  
Mourning their lost leader,  
The first of all of them to die.  
Alan A-Dale holds mother's shoulders  
While she sobs into Will Scarlet  
Friar Tuck does the ceremony.  
Then mother and I  
And my three little sisters  
Throw flowers into his grave.  
I want to go home.  
I hate seeing my father in a box,  
He doesn't belong in it.  
He belongs beside my mother.  
I saw him after he died,  
Before they put him the coffin.  
Little John told me not to  
But,  
He can't tell me what to do.  
My father was white,  
And I could see the gash on his arm.  
John had changed him out of the clothes he died in,  
And burned them  
He was dressed in his best tunic.  
Mother made it for his birthday last year.  
My father seemed peaceful  
Though I know he died with tears on his face.  
I took two things from him,  
I knew he wouldn't mind.  
The dagger from his belt,  
And lock of his hair.  
I thought about taking his wedding ring,  
But he would want that in heaven,  
To remind him of his wife.  
Then I kissed his forehead  
And walked out of the room.  
Mother noticed the dagger,  
I wear it on my waist now.  
But she did not say anything,  
Just nodded.  
My littlest sister is crying,  
Wiping her nose on her dress.  
I wonder if she will remember him,  
Maybe she will,  
Or maybe he will be just a story to her. 


	8. Regrets

Ok, this is the last poem...and it has a twist. Love you reviewers!  
~*~  
I'm just like him.  
I'm a murderer just like him.  
I thought once he was dead  
Everything would be alright  
My brother would be avenged  
I would be free  
A murder  
It would free me of my dreams  
And my enemy would be dead  
It felt good while he was still alive  
And helpless  
And bleeding  
But  
Once his friend came  
I expected to die  
Revenge is fair  
I got my revenge  
Robin should have too  
But  
He spared my life  
My life!  
Whoever heard of that?  
The murdered sparing a murderer  
At first I thought he was a fool  
But then...  
I realized he was something else  
Robin Hood was righteous  
Chivalrous  
Noble  
He forgave me  
I saw Maid Marian crying yesterday  
It was like her soul was breaking  
And the look she gave me when she saw me  
She bored a hole into my heart with her eyes  
I am sorry  
But I cannot apologize.  
There is a window in my room  
Very  
Very  
High  
Up  
God cannot forgive me  
I am not going to heaven  
So why should I live?  
I reach the window  
Dangle my legs over the edge  
Moving closer and closer  
My hands are the only things keeping me up  
And I let go.  
M  
y  
l  
i  
f  
e  
i  
s  
n  
o  
t  
w  
o  
r  
t  
h  
l  
i  
v  
i  
n  
g  
a  
n  
d  
I  
c  
a  
n  
't  
g  
o  
b  
a  
c  
k  
n  
o  
w  
I'm sorry.  
  
~*~  
The end. 


End file.
